Canepa: Harbaughs aren't a comedy act

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh participate in a news conference for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
— AP

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh participate in a news conference for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
/ AP

The Harbaugh Morning of Love (which means not having to say much of anything) began in a convention center conference room with a gaggle of photographers snap-shooting the Lombardi Trophy as if it were the Ark of the Covenant.

Two directors chairs were placed behind the Lombardi, and John and Jim Harbaugh, brothers and respective coaches of Super Bowl finalists Baltimore and San Francisco, finally came in to park Friday morning for the most anticipated meeting of relatives since John and Bobby Kennedy discussed the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Only in this case, if it had been a Broadway play, it would have folded before patrons were allowed through the door. These brothers, you see, are not Marx.

For sure, this was an extraordinary gathering, in that the opposing coaches usually speak separately and for the last time on Fridays prior to the game. But the NFL, always thinking, brought the brothers together and the joint was jammed with media.

John came out wearing a suit and tie. Jim was donned in a long-sleeve T-shirt and 49ers cap, attire I understand he’s worn every day since he got the San Francisco job two years ago. He also could have been wearing a gag, because he didn’t have much to say, often just concurring with his older brother.

John basically played the M.C. “Welcome, thanks for coming,” he said. “I just want to start by saying what an honor it is for both of us to be here with each other, no question about it.”

He introduced their parents, Jack and Jackie, and Joe Sepidi, their 97-year-old grandfather, and his uncle and cousin. “Any more family members out there?” he asked, knowing there might be another hundred Harbaughs in the room.

Reporters trying to get something out of these two about their life together at times found it about as easy as a root canal.

As an example, the brothers were asked which one of them took the most risks growing up. Not a bad question, in that both, as we have seen this season, are risk-takers.

Jim’s response: “My memories of this season right now and what got us here, and how hard it was to get here, tremendously excited to be here.”

What?

He went on to talk about the season, about quarterback Colin Kaepernick and David Akers’ 63-yard field goal. “The way our players have played, that is why we’re here, not because of coaching decisions or any way that we were when we were kids.”

John: “I concur.”

They were asked if they could work for one another as coaches.

Jim: “Definitely. I would work for him.”

John: “I concur.”

Just some wild and crazy stuff.

John, looking at Jim: “There is no better coach in the National Football League than this guy right here.”

Jim: “Well, Jack Harbaugh.”

John: “True.”

Well, not really. Father Jack, a college coach, never has worked in the NFL. But if he had, his hyper-focused offspring probably would have been oblivious to it.

Actually, this is what I expected and what everybody should have expected. John and Jim were not going to get together and spill family secrets and go Rodney Dangerfield. What they do is coach and they're here to win a football game.

When John was asked if as the older brother he wants to protect Jim, it was almost laughable.

“No, not at all,” John said. “I suspect he feels the same way. It’s all about the teams. We are fiercely loyal, there’s no doubt. We all say that. Not just of one another and we always have been. We will continue to be fiercely loyal and protective of one another, but also of our teams.

“Jim had mentioned earlier in the week, he talked about the band of brotherhood, the brothers that will take the field. St. Crispin’s Day speech (from “Henry V”). He’s got it memorized; it’s unbelievable. It’s brilliant. That’s true. The band of brothers will be the brothers on the sideline. It will be the Ravens’ sideline, it will be the 49ers’ sideline. That will be the band of brothers in this competition.”

They were asked about their “commonalities and differences in philosophies.”

Jim: “Philosophical commonalities? I would be hard-pressed to spell philosophical right now.”

John: “I know I can’t spell commonalities.”

Win or lose Sunday, will there be a bear hug instead of a handshake?

John: “I’ve given absolutely no consideration to the postgame hand shake or bear hug or anything else. “I haven’t thought about that for one second. Have you, Jim?”